Pulverized-coal feeder



June 30, 192.5. 1,543,936

A. S. M MILLAN ET AL FULVERI ZED COAL FEEDER Filed Oct, 21. 19121 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J0 INVENTORS flRcH/Bm 0 5 Ma. M11. L mv 650%? W. M/H/PPLE June 30, 1925.

A. s. MCMILLAN ET AL PULVERIZED COAL FEEDER FiIed Oct.

21, 1921 2 Sheets-Shget 2 'INVE/VTORS Patented June 30, 1925 UNITED STATE- PATE T OFFICE.

'ARCHIBALD s. MCMILLAN, or ST. LOU

'GHERRYVAPE-P KANSAS.

PULVERIZED-COAL FEEDER.

Application filed October 21, 1921. Serial No. 509,358.

To all whom it may-concern:

Be it known that we, ARcHIBALn S. Mo- MILLAN and GEORGE W. VVHIPPLE, citizens of the'United States, and residents of St.

fed'to the burners of a furnace to control.

the intensity of the heat therein.

One object of the invention is to provide a structure whereby a jet of air or other pressure causes a quantity of vfuel to be drawn through an'orifice at a high velocity and fed to the burner. Another object is to provide novel means for controlling the volume of fuel fed to the furnace. A further object is to provide a slidable pipe which is adapted to convey pressure for feeding the fuel and also to control the area of the discharge outlet. Another object is l to provide means for locking the feed nozzle in different positions of adjustment. A still further object is to combine and arrange the various elements so that they effectively perform their functions as set forth.

The invention will be understood from the following description and accompanying drawings in which i Fig. 1 is -a side elevation showing one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 1

Fig. 1 is a detail of parts shown in Fig. 2 is a view on an enlarged scale showing structural details;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 2

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on line 44 of Fig. 2. V

Fig. 5 is a plan of parts shown in Fig. 15

Fig. 6 is a section on line 64-6 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings 5 is a collector from which the pulverizedfuel is fed to a supply bin or hopper 6. Tothe bottom of the ho er is secured an an ular rim 7 to one flange of'which a casing 8 is fastened.

This casing is formed with a plurality of chambers 9 which arein open communication at the top with the interior of the hopper 6. Bosses 10 are formed in the chambers 9 and are drilled to form conduits 11. In alignment with each conduit 11 a threaded opening is made for the revrrssonar, Ami GEORGE W. WHILPPLE, or

ception' of the boss 12" of a frame 13 having upright end walls 14 and 15 and a bottom wall 16.

The wall 15 carries an which is in alignment with and extends in the opposite direction to the boss 12. pipe. 18 isslidably mounted in the bosses 12 and. 17 and suitable stuffing boxes 19 and 20 are provided to prevent leakage around said pipe. One end of the pipe is provided with a nozz1e'21 of frustro-conical shape integral boss 17 i and formed with a central passage of restricted area. Secured to the pipe 18 at a point intermediate the stufling boxes 19 and 20 is a split collar 22 having outwardly extending pins 23 formed thereon. These pins engage the walls of a slot 24 formed in a lever 25 which is pivoted at 26 to bracket 27 secured to the underside of the framev 16. At its free end this lever is connected by means of a link 28, with a lever 29 pivoted at 30 to any suitable fixed support. At its upper end the lever 29 carries a pivoted hand grip 31 for operating a spring pressed latch-rod 32 which co-ac-ts with the teeth 33 of a locking quadrant formed on one of the flanges of an angle iron 34 which is secured to the hopper 6. It is clear that as thus connected, movement of the lever 29 will reciprocate the rod 18 and cause a variation in the area of the orifice between the nozzle 21] and the conduit 11. By looking the lever 29 by means of the latch rod 32 it will be seen that the volume of material fed through the conduit 11 can be maintained to suit varying conditions.

Compressed air or other fluid pressure is supplied to the pipe 18 through a pipe 35 which is connected by means of fitting 37 to. a Y-connection '38, one portion 39 of which is connected to a pipe 40 leading to burner 41 in the furnace F. The other which pipe is connected to asuitable pump or blower. not shown. The casing 8 is formed with a plurality ofchambers 9 and several of these chambers are connected as above described to control the supply of fuel to several of the larger burners 41 in the furnace. The furnace illustrated is of I the retort type such as used? .or the distillation of zinc and is also provided with a numbei' -of small upper burners 48 which are supplied with fuel fed from other cham ber's 9 ofthe casing. For controlling the volume of fuel supplied to the upper burners 4 8 We use-the same arrangement as shown in Fig.2 but connect the supply line to the burners. in a slightly different manner as willnow be described. x The fittings 37*? and the .Y-fitting are connected to the casing 8 in the same manner as above described and high pressure air is supplied to the branch 42* of the fitting 138 through a pipe 45 which is connected toa suitable high pressure air supply. I The outlet portion 49 of the fitting38 is connected to a riser 50 having an enlarged in- 'termediate section 51 and a return bend 5 2 withdraw the nozzle 21 a short distance from the face of the boss'lO thereby forming an orifice between theywalls of said nozzleand theconduit 11. The air pressure flowing through the no'zzle'will create a strong suction which will drawv the pulverized fuel.

from the hopper into Ethe chamber 9 and through the restricted orifice around. the

nozzle and force the fuel through thefittings 37 and .38 .to -g the pipe 10 where it will meet the auxiliary air supplied by the pipe 45 and. will be carried to the burners "41. The auxiliary air supply is of low pressure and assists the furnace draft in. gently feeding or wafting the' fuel forward and also aids' in promoting the combustion of the fuel in the furnace. The supply for the small upper burners 48 is controlled in substantially the same manner as that above described except on to the small upper burners 48, a certain portion offuel and airbeing returned through the branch 52 to the top of the hopper. v I

The fuel which leaves the upper burners 48 enters the furnace at substantially the same low pressure as that which is admitted to the furnace by the lower burners 41.

As above mentioned the low pressure auxiliary air is controlled by the regulator 46. This is set so that practically no pressure is exerted in the furnace chamber, the auxiliary air being supplied at such a low pressure that the draft on the furnace will not be materially affected thereby, and the cloud of finely pulverized powdered fuel is assisted in its movement by the partial vacuum or draft of the furnace.

"While we have described with great particularity the details of construction and arrangement of parts of the embodiment of our inventionillustrated, it is not to be interpreted that we arelimited to such arrangements as various modifications and substitution of equivalents may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

What we claim is: I

The combination with a" feed hopper and a furnace of means below the hopper for creating a suction to withdraw pulverized fuel from the bottom of said hopper, a sub stantially horizontal feed nozzle movable longitudinally to control the volume of fuel withdrawn by suction from the hopper and means for supplying an auxiliary stream of air at a pressure slightly greater than that of atmosphere to. assist the furnace draft in drawing the fuel thereto and topromote combustion.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto signed our names.

ARCHIBALD S. MOMILLAN.

GEORGE W. WHIPPLE. 

